The data has changed ... so should the dates

EVERY journey, so the saying goes, begins with a single step. So let’s not underestimate the significance of regaining some of our lost liberties yesterday.

In parks and gardens where up to six could gather again, at beaches, golf courses and lidos, the joy of these small mercies was written on the faces of friends reunited.

But Freedom Day? Hardly. Our journey may have begun but there are months of footslogging ahead before we get to the final page of Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown.

The Mail has always recognised the conflict the PM faces in reopening society while simultaneously protecting lives. But his excessive caution, re-emphasised yesterday, is becoming ever harder to justify.

If he really is driven by ‘data not dates’, the latest Covid figures clearly call for a rethink. They are sensational.

Not a single fatality anywhere in the south or east of England on Sunday, including London. A 96 per cent fall in death rates.

Well over half the adult population have had at least one jab. New daily cases among the over-65s below 200 a day.

And those who do catch the virus after vaccination are highly unlikely to show severe symptoms – hence the massive drop in hospitalisations.

How much good news must there be before the roadmap is revisited?

The adverse effects of lockdown on socialisation and mental health, especially among the young, have been profound.

The true economic shock has been masked by furlough, VAT and rate holidays, and other financial props.

But be under no illusion, every day between now and June 21, currently the earliest date for the removal of all restrictions (it may yet slip), will see more businesses pushed into the abyss and more jobs lost.

Fears of a third wave driven by rising infections in Europe and the threat of new variants able to resist inoculation are hypothetical. The immense damage being done by lockdown is real and present.

The fact is that death rates are back to where they were on June 25 last year, ten days before the ban on indoor socialising was lifted.

Yet this time round, we’ve got to hang around another seven weeks before that same restriction ends – despite the vaccine miracle. What are we waiting for?